Savage
by CenturyChild533
Summary: You won't like him when he's angry. Rated T for violence and language.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion

Disclaimer: I do not own _Neon Genesis Evangelion. _The show and its characters and property belong to Gainax, ADV films, and Hideaki Anno. Should they ask, I will remove this story from public view.

I also do not own anything connected to Marvel Comics. Should they ask, I will remove this story from public view.

_Neon Genesis Evangelion:_

_**Savage**_

_By CenturyChild533_

Shinji Ikari closed the apartment door behind him as he followed Rei Ayanami out the door. He was still blushing after what had just occurred, and the girl's silence was not helping his awkwardness any. After going to her apartment to deliver her ID card, he had found her completely nude and, through an unfortunate accident involving a slippery floor and the strap of his backpack, he had ended up on top of her covered in the blue-haired girl's undergarments. The girl's lack of reaction to the event had not done anything to relieve Shinji's nervousness, and the boy was still preparing for her to turn around and smack the daylights out of him. Fortunately, she had not done so. Yet. Instead, Rei had remained silent and was now leaving the apartment building in what Shinji recognized as the direction of NERV headquarters.

Shinji then remembered that Rei was supposed to undergo a reactivation test in Unit 00, and worry clouded his mind at the thought. He had heard about the incident during the previous activation test, when the Evangelion unit had gone berserk. Rei had been seriously injured when the Entry Plug had ejected, and his father's hands had been burned when he forced open the hatch of the superheated plug. Shinji did not fully understand his apprehension about Rei's upcoming test, but he felt it nonetheless, and he found himself unable to shake the sensation. He looked up from the pavement, about to speak, when he realized that he was at the entrance gate of NERV. Rei swiped her identification card, and the reader made an annoying beeping sound, rejected the card. Her lips pursed somewhat, a look of mild annoyance crossing her face as she swiped the card once again, to no avail. Shinji reached into his pocket and removed her new one and ran it through the track. The door rumbled as it began to open.

Rei looked up to him for an explanation, and Shinji said, "This is the card I went to your house to deliver. Ritsuko-san said…"

Rei did not allow him to finish his sentence, plucking the card from his grip and walking inside. Shinji followed, his head hanging and his hands in his pockets. He followed the girl as she entered the complex, the heavy security doors closing behind him and sealing off the noise from the outside world, plunging him into a sound setting governed by the low resonant hum that seemed to be constant within NERV's bowels. She stepped onto an escalator that would eventually lead to the lower levels, where the Eva testing facility was. Quickly, so as not to lose the opportunity,Shinji stepped onto the conveyance as well. He was not entirely sure was he was following her, but the young man decided that he was too far to turn back now.

Shinji broke the silence that he found to be increasingly uncomfortable. "Um… I heard that you have an activation test with Unit 00 today. I hope everything goes well."

Rei nodded, saying nothing. Shinji continued, "Listen… I wondered something. Aren't you afraid of getting into Unit 00 again?"

Rei spoke but did not turn to face him. "Why would I be?"

"Well," Shinji said, swallowing to moisten his now dry throat, "I heard about what happened during the last test, how you were injured and everything. I just noticed you don't seem to care that much about it."

"You are Commander Ikari's son, are you not?"

This question caught Shinji off-guard. "Yes," he said, almost stumbling over the relatively simple answer.

"How can you not trust your father's work?" the girl asked in her unsettlingly quiet voice.

Shinji scoffed slightly. "How _can _I trust him after everything that's happened?"

Rei at first turned her head, looking at the young man over her shoulder, and then she turned sharply around on the escalator step, a look of irritation in her now blazing red eyes. Shinji froze, the glare that she was giving him fixing him in place. With almost blinding speed, her right hand lashed out and impacted his cheek sharply, making a light cracking noise that echoed off the walls of the space.

Shocked, Shinji recoiled as the girl turned back around, returning to her recently broken silence. As his hand rested on his cheek, he felt a conflicting blend of embarrassment and anger well up inside him, twisting his guts for a few seconds. His breathing slowed, and he attempted to calm himself, releasing the deep inhalation in a slow stream of air. He felt better already, except for the embarrassment, which was not so easy to get rid of.

The escalator stopped, and Rei turned to the right, disappearing down the hallway as Shinji simply stood at the base of the escalator. He turned in the opposite direction and began walking, not really knowing where he was going. Soon, he found that the hallway was an alternate route to the locker rooms, and he entered it without thinking, taking a seat on the bench. Soon he reclined, laying on the bench and facing the ceiling as he retrieved his SDAT player from his pocket. Shinji inserted the headphones into his ears, his movements feeling exceedingly languid, and he pressed the play button, a stream of slow and eerie music flowing into his ears. He tapped his finger to the beat, feeling the song's calming effect coming over him.

_Why did I get angry just then? _The question was one that should have had a relatively simple answer, and yet it did not. He knew that his remark had been out of line, but what he could not understand was the _level _of Rei's indignation over it. _Why does she jump to defend him so quickly, I wonder? _Shinji had seen them just a few days before, talking happily in the Eva cages. He had not seen his father act like that in years, and he could not help but feel a bit of envy over the blue-haired girl's apparent relationship with him.

Again, as was his ritual when he became irritated or angry, Shinji inhaled a deep breath and closed his eyes, letting the breath go as slowly as possible. When he finished, his mind was clear, and he felt many times better. Again, he began tapping his finger to the beat of the song, humming along with the spine-chilling melody of it, eventually giving way to singing softly, his soft tenor voice reverberating back off the tiled walls of the locker room.

As the minutes passed and the songs changed, Shinji stopped singing, feeling lethargy beginning to overtake him. As it did, however, it was swiftly shattered by the shrill screaming of the Angel alert klaxon. Quickly, Shinji was up, the SDAT player stowed in his locker. He rushed himself out of his clothes and quickly slithered into his plugsuit, pressurizing the rubbery garment and rushing out of the room.

_Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, _Shinji thought to himself.

He reminded himself never to think that ever again.

( 0 0 0 )

Misato Katsuragi looked up at the monitor that was displaying the Angel floating toward Tokyo-3, and she raised an eyebrow at the curious structure of the monster. It was shaped like a pair of four-sided pyramids, stuck together and forming an enormous floating blue diamond. Its AT Field had already manifested, as Misato had expected, and it was now inbound for the area directly above NERV headquarters. This too had already been predicted, and Misato had already gotten Unit 01 and Shinji into position for sortie.

"Evangelion Unit 01, launch!" she cried, watching the monitors as the purple behemoth rocketed toward the surface along the high-speed catapult.

Her vision abruptly shifted to another monitor on the giant screen, showing the point where Shinji would exit, roughly six-hundred yards away from the Angel. She watched as the catapult holding the mammoth form of Evangelion Unit 01 jerked to a halt, its horned-head snapping to attention as the lift stopped.

Almost as soon as this occurred, one of the technicians cried out frantically, "Ma'am, I'm detecting energy buildup inside the target!"

Misato's eyes widened, and she rushed to the console. "What?"

"The circumferential parts of the Angel's core are spinning and concentrating! Levels of unknown radiation detected!"

Misato's vision shifted to the monitor once again. "What the hell…" Suddenly, realization came to her, but it was a second too late. "Shinji, move!"

Shinji looked up and prepared to follow Misato's order, but it was too late. A burst of light flashed from one of the points in the center of the Angel's geometric body, and a thin beam of light lanced outwards toward Unit 01, plowing into a building and instantly melting a hole in the structure then slamming into the Eva's chest. There was a slight hiss, and Shinji felt his chest searing, as if someone were drilling a hole in his heart.

Shinji screamed, feeling his lungs and organs bombarded by intense pain. The LCL bubbled frantically, boiling under the heat of the beam, and Shinji could feel the agony spreading to the rest of his body. His muscles felt as if they were on fire, and every inch of his body was in a state of unbearable torture. His screams continued, changing from a scream of shock to one of pained anger, rage. Finally, abruptly, it stopped as the Plug was pulled underground, and Shinji gasped for breath, clutching his chest, feeling the sensation of his rapidly beating heart. Adrenaline flowed through his veins, and he felt lightheaded, dizzy. He panted, his breath slowing to a normal speed, and finally he slumped into the seat of the Entry Plug, fatigue overwhelming him in one fell swoop.

As he drifted into unconsciousness, Shinji was vaguely aware of a tingling sensation along his skin, a curious feeling that did not seem painful but rather… exhilarating.

( 0 0 0 )

Misato stood at the window that allowed her to peer into the medical ward where Shinji was being held. The young man was encapsulated in a black box that looked suspiciously like a coffin (which wasn't doing anything for Misato's nerves), awaiting a final verdict on his state of health. She released a slow sigh, realizing she had been holding her breath, and ran a hand through her deep violet hair, turning away from the window and sitting on the bench near the door. When he had been extracted from the Entry Plug, he had been unconscious, and his nose had been bleeding rather severely, and he had not yet regained consciousness. Misato looked up as she heard the door open, and Ritsuko Akagi stepped out into the hallway, still looking at a clipboard that presumably held information regarding Shinji. The blonde-haired scientist removed her glasses, tucking them into her pocket, and met Misato's eyes.

"How is he?" Misato asked immediately, a note of panic evident in her voice.

"He's still unconscious, as you can see. When the Angel fired that beam, we detected an unknown kind of radiation emanating from the Angel's core, possibly tied to the AT Field. I don't know what kind of an effect it will have on him, because I can be assured he got a pretty heavy dose of whatever it was. His brainwaves are slightly erratic, but nothing beyond reasonable limits. He should be fine to pilot again when he wakes up."

Misato breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I was worried."

Ritsuko nodded, sitting down next to her and setting the clipboard between them. "Any progress on the capability analysis of the Angel's defenses?"

Misato nodded. "We mounted a dummy on train tracks and drove it near the Angel. It fired the same beam it hit Shinji-kun with, destroyed the train. I'm guessing it automatically attacks anything that moves within a certain distance of it." Her expression became grave. "Unfortunately, we've got another problem. The thing's positioned itself directly over NERV headquarters, and it's drilling through to the Geofront."

Ritsuko raised an eyebrow. "It's _drilling_?"

Misato nodded. "We've got about ten hours before it penetrates the Geofront, just after midnight."

Ritsuko swore quietly. "We'll have to accelerate the repairs to Unit 01. The chest armor was melted down to the third level, which is going to be a bitch to fix in time. I think I can manage it, though. What are you going to do about the Angel?"

"I've got a plan worked out; I'm clearing it with the MAGI right now."

Ritsuko nodded and lifted herself from the bench. "I'll keep you posted on his condition; I have to go back in to monitor him some more." Ritsuko opened the door and stopped, a mild look of shock on her face.

"What is it?" Misato asked, curiously. She turned and looked in through the glass, and her eyes widened.

The black medical analysis unit slid open, and Shinji sat up, looking perfectly normal. He looked around the room for a few seconds, and finally he spotted Ritsuko. "Dr. Akagi? What's going on?"

Ritsuko was stunned. "Shinji-kun? I hadn't expected you to wake up for a while. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Just a little confused. Where am I?"

"You're in the analysis chamber in the medical bay. We were checking to make sure you're okay, but…" She paused. "I'll have to run some tests on you to make sure, but you should be all right."

The young man nodded, tiredly running a hand through his hair. "Yes, ma'am."

Misato turned away from the window, mildly shocked at Shinji's sudden awakening. This helped her a great deal, since she would not have to rely entirely on Rei for her plan to destroy the Angel. Still, the woman was worried about her charge's condition and was not going to put him into harm's way until she was entirely assured of his stability. She breathed a sigh of relief and stood up, heading down the hallway.

_Time to go to work._

( 0 0 0 )

Several hours later, Shinji lay in a bed in the hospital wing, still awake. He had tried to rest up for the operation he had been told about, but he had found himself unable to do so. Presently, all he had been able to do is stare out the window at the sunset, attempting to focus on the orange and purplish hues and not on the sinking feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. Sleep had eluded him for a number of reasons; his period of unconsciousness, he thought, had rendered him restless, but he also suspected he was keeping himself awake. While he had been knocked out, he had dreamt, and the dreams had not been pleasant. The sensation of being boiled alive inside the Entry plug… the feeling of a white hot lance being shoved into his chest… the unusual rush of adrenaline that had awoken every nerve in his body… these things had been enough to keep him alert.

Shinji turned his head and faced the ceiling once more, and as he did so he heard the gentle rush of air as the door opened. Surprised, he turned his attention to the portal and saw Rei enter the room. She was pushing one of the metal hospital trolleys, the clanking of the plastic wheels against the tile floor impossibly loud when contrasted against the silent room. She wheeled the cart to a stop at the side of his bed and looked at him.

The young man fidgeted slightly under her penetrating gaze. "Hello, Ayanami," he said.

"I am here to inform you of the plans for Operation Yashima," she said in her quiet monotone, without a greeting of any kind. The girl extracted a notebook from the pocket of her skirt and opened it, reading the notes she had written. "The operation will begin at 0:00 hours. Pilots Ayanami and Ikari will be present at the cage at 17:30 hours today. At 18:00, Units 00 and 01 will be prepared for launch. At 18:05, launch. At 18:30, we will arrive at the emergency base at Mt. Futagoyama and await further instructions."

Rei closed the notebook and reinserted it into her pocket, and she reached under the cart and grabbed a plastic bag. She placed it on Shinji's bed. Inside it was another one of his plugsuits. "Here is the new one."

Shinji nodded weakly, speaking a quiet gratitude.

Rei nodded toward the tray on top of the cart, which carried his dinner. "Your meal is here, as well."

The young man shook his head. "I don't feel like eating anything."

"Very well," Rei responded, seemingly unconcerned. "We must depart in sixty minutes."

"Do I… really have to pilot the Eva again?" Shinji asked, not meeting her eyes now, his gaze instead focused on the window.

Rei nodded. "Yes, you do."

Shinji bristled at the frankness of her comment. "You just…" He took in a deep breath and released it. "If you'd gone through what I just did, you wouldn't want to do this either."

"Then stay here."

Shinji turned and looked her in the eyes, surprise evident in his features. "What?"

"I will Pilot Unit 01. Doctor Akagi can reconfigure the data for me."

Shinji broke eye contact, guiltily staring at the sheets instead. He had not thought his last comment through at all, and he realized just how stupid it had been. He looked up to Rei again, but she was no longer facing him. Instead, she had gone to the door of the room and opened it. "I must go," she said, her voice still uninflected, unchanged. "Goodbye." With that statement, she stepped through the door, and it hissed shut.

Shinji sighed, smacking a palm to his forehead. "Idiot," he muttered angrily. "She's probably been through a hell of a lot more than you have." Quickly, he tossed the covers away from himself and tore the plastic wrapping off of the plugsuit, donning the garment as quickly as he could and following Ayanami out into the hall.

( 0 0 0 )

A few hours later, Shinji sat in the locker room at the reserve base that had been set up at Mt. Futagoyama. Attempting to avoid looking at Rei's shapely silhouette behind the screen in the room, his vision was focused on the locker in front of him. The incident in her apartment had returned to Shinji's mind with an almost painful clarity, and an unwilling blush crept into his cheeks despite his best efforts to suppress it. Unfortunately, by doing so, his mind drifted to the dangerous mission that lay ahead of them. _How am I supposed to get this right on the first try? I've never done anything like this before, _he thought despairingly to himself. _We… we could…_

Unintentionally, Shinji spoke out loud. "We could die…" he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Why do you say that?" Rei responded, unaware that he had merely been thinking aloud.

Shinji did not respond, unable to think of a suitable reply. He heard the sharp hiss of a plugsuit being vacuum sealed.

"You will not die."

Shinji turned his focus to the form behind the screen, her statement confusing him somewhat.

Rei spoke in her quiet, almost ethereal voice. "I will protect you." With that, she stepped out from behind the screen and headed for the locker room door.

Shinji hastily stood and followed the blue-haired girl as she turned and began walking toward the docking area for the Eva units. The hallway made a few more turns before they arrived at an elevator. Rei pressed the button and stepped inside once the doors opened, and Shinji followed, the doors closing and the lift beginning to rise.

The elevator's rumbles were the only sounds that penetrated the enclosed space, as both of the pilots were maintaining a somewhat tense silence. Shinji took a few deep breaths, trying to clear his head, but he found himself unable to dismiss his nervousness. He glanced over at Rei, who was not giving any indication that she was bothered by what was about to happen. Shinji found this odd and mildly unsettling. He wondered how she could be so calm in the face of such a dangerous mission. Something about the degree of the girl's introversion bothered Shinji; he had met quiet people in his time but no one who held a candle to Rei Ayanami.

The elevator jerked to a halt and opened. The two pilots followed a narrow walkway on the frame structure connecting the two Evangelion units, knelt in a somewhat reverent looking posture, the Entry Plugs open and waiting for their masters to board them. Rei looked at the built in watch on the plugsuit, seeing that they still had a few minutes before their deployment began. She sat down on the gantry, and Shinji followed suit. He looked out over the landscape, admiring the utter darkness that the blackout had plunged the city into. Now, the only light came from the stadium-like fixtures on the launch platform.

The brown-haired boy turned his head to look at his fellow pilot, the silence practically driving him mad with a feverish anxiety. Talking, he thought, would help him relax. Shinji asked the first question that came to his mind. "Why do you pilot?" Immediately, he regretted the inquiry. The subject of Eva was not one he was fond of talking about, but he felt a desire to get a momentary insight into the thought processes of his enigmatic colleague.

Rei was silent for a moment before she finally responded. "Because it is my bond."

Shinji looked confused. "A bond?"

"Yes."

Believing he understood her statement, Shinji questioned, "You mean, with my father?"

"With all people," she replied in a quiet voice.

Shinji nodded, even though he did not fully comprehend her words. "You're a strong person, Ayanami," he said, a definite note of admiration in his voice.

"I have nothing else."

Shinji's expression turned to astonished incredulity. "Nothing else?"

Rei did not offer any further explanation. "It's time," she said, standing up and looking out to the area that was soon to become a battlefield. "Goodbye."

Shinji watched as she climbed into the Entry Plug, the note of finality in her voice leaving a knot in his chest. He bit his lower lip apprehensively and stood up, boarding his own Entry Plug. As the hatch closed and the LCL began filling the cylindrical cockpit, Shinji took a moment to close his eyes and relax, attempting to clear his mind of his doubts.

Like ravenous locusts, they continued to feed, growing ever larger.

( 0 0 0 )

3… 2… 1… Midnight.

Shinji listened to the communication system as the technicians began making the preparations for the positron rifle. He heard the countdowns as they made the connections, one by one, sending incalculable amounts of energy to the massive firearm that Unit 01 had clutched in its grip. The targeting computer above his head lowered itself over his eyes, giving him a rudimentary image of the Angel's angular form as well as crosshairs and other targeting data. Shinji began zeroing in on his quarry, watching as the crosshairs moved together, finally focusing in on the center of the Angel's body. Once they locked together, Shinji pulled the trigger, feeling the Eva shudder under the recoil of the positron rifle as it discharged, shooting a bright shaft of light toward the Angel. He heard the warning systems blare suddenly, watching with mute horror as the Angel shot its own energy beam. The two beams went straight at each other and warped in midair, sending each one into a helix motion and spinning out of control. His shot missed its target, flying to the far right and slamming into the hillside beyond the city. The Angel's beam impacted the area behind him, sending out a shockwave that rocked the Eva.

Shinji struggled to maintain control, managing to keep his composure as he scrambled to ready a second shot. Panic flooded him for a moment as the rifle ejected the spent fuse and loaded another one into place. The warning system blared again, and he realized that the Angel was going to fire another shot before he could get ready. Shinji yelped as the Angel's point flared, sending another lance of light toward him. His eyes shut reflexively, fearing the pain of being boiled alive inside the plug again, and he froze.

To his surprise, the pain never came. Opening his eyes, Shinji saw the form of Evangelion Unit 00 standing in front of him holding its colossal shield. The Angel's purple energy discharge showered off the surface of the metal bulwark, a cascade of lavender illuminating the battlefield. Shinji's eyes widened. "Ayanami…" he said in a breathless whisper.

Suddenly, Shinji felt the adrenaline in his body begin to rush anew, his anger and frustration at the Angel mounting with the passing milliseconds. His jaw clenched as he felt an unfamiliar sensation of power coursing through his veins, an irrepressible shudder shaking his body as he emitted an involuntary feral growl. The noise increased, becoming a thunderous roar of rage. Thrusting the control yokes forward, Unit 01 dropped the positron rifle and leapt into the air, passing directly through the path of the Angel's blast. The armor on Unit 01 wrinkled under the heat as it forcibly grabbed Unit 00 and tossed it out of the path of the beam. The ray sputtered, fading, as the Angel prepared to fire a third shot.

Shinji snarled, the Eva lunging forward and plunging into the lake separating the sniper position and the Angel's location. The water came up just below the Eva's knee, and it rushed forward through the water toward the floating monstrosity. Unit 01 hit shore, its speed increasing now that it was out of the water, and the Angel fired its third shot toward Unit 01. To the astonishment of all, the Eva quickly dropped to a crouch and leapt, soaring over the beam and landing on one of the top faces of the diamond-shaped creature. With another animalistic growl, Shinji reared the Eva's fist back and then pitched it forward, plunging it through the Angel's surface. A shower of crystalline debris flew up from the wound, along with a fountain of purple blood. Unit 01's arm came back up, sending more shards of the Angel's brittle body into the air. Clutched in its fist was a large red orb covered in amethyst gore – the Angel's core. Its source of energy now gone, the light around the creature's perimeter vanished, and the body fell to the ground, crumpling under the weight of its attacker.

Unit 01 spun around, leaping from the now decimated remnants of its prey, and it plunged into the lake once again, racing toward the spot where Unit 00 still lay, unmoving. The purple mecha reached the shore, and its arm shot out, seizing the plate on the back of its yellow compatriot and tearing it off, triggering the Entry Plug's automatic ejection. The LCL purged, and Unit 01 took hold of the white cylinder and tore it free, setting it on the ground. Unit 01 crouched and deployed its own Entry Plug, the door opening after the LCL had drained.

"Ayanami!" Shinji shouted, frantically scrambling down from Unit 01's shoulder until his feet hit the ground. He sprinted to the Entry Plug and found the hatch, grasping the handles firmly. The searing metal hissed as it burned the rubber of his plugsuit and made its way through to his skin. Shinji forced himself to ignore the pain, and the muscles in his arms flexed as he pulled on the handles. He did not notice as the metal whined, the hinges squeaked, and the door itself was wrenched completely off the Plug. Shinji dropped the offending chunk of metal and crawled in the newly made hole.

Inside, he found Ayanami lying unconscious in the pilot's seat. She appeared uninjured, but this did little to satiate his worry. "Ayanami!" he cried again. "Are you all right? Ayanami!"

The girl's slowly opened her red eyes, her vision blurred as she did so. As everything came into focus again, she saw Shinji crouched in the hole in the side of the Entry Plug, an expression of distress and panic on his face. But something was not right about him. She thought hard, finally realizing what it was.

Shinji's eyes were green.

Slowly, the piercing emerald irises darkened, returning to their normal cobalt color as Shinji's eyes filled with tears. "Don't…don't say you have nothing else," he said, his voice shaky as he began crying. "Don't say goodbye when we go on a mission… It's too sad…"

After this, the boy broke down, his uncontrollable sobs echoing in the confined space of the Entry Plug. Rei sat up in the seat, eyeing him curiously. "Why are you crying?" she asked. When he did not reply, she looked away. "I apologize. I do not know how to express myself in situations like this."

The brown-haired boy looked up at her, a smile on his face despite the tears in his eyes. "Maybe… you should smile."

A silence presided over the pair for a moment, until the corners of Rei's lips rose into a small smile. It may have been only a small gesture, but to Shinji it made a world of difference.

( 0 0 0 )

Inside the control room, many of the spectators of the battle were still slack-jawed, utterly shocked by what they had just witnessed. Misato was one of them, finally managing to shake herself from her disbelieving trance and looking over to Ritsuko. "I hope you have a better idea than I do about what just happened."

Ritsuko pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to focus. "All I have is the data from during the fight."

"What happened? Did the Eva go berserk again?"

"Actually, it didn't. That's the strangest part of the whole thing. I watched Shinji-kun's vitals and synch ratio the whole time. His synch ratio only increased a few points, but his vitals went crazy. His heartbeat was extremely elevated, and his adrenaline levels were off the scale. I don't know for sure, but…"

"But what?" Misato prompted as the woman trailed off.

"I think whatever just happened… came from Shinji-kun himself."

Misato was silent, trying to process the seemingly insane information Ritsuko was giving her. "But how do you explain him tearing the door off of Rei's Entry Plug? I've never seen anything like that!"

"I'm going to find out. I'm going to conduct a scan on Shinji-kun's brain again; maybe this time we'll find something that will help us figure this out."

Misato sat down. "I hope you do. This is going to cause no end of headaches."

"Well, the Second Child will be arriving soon, at least. That will give us someone to fall back on in case Shinji-kun is unstable."

Misato perked up at this last statement. "'Unstable'? What do you mean 'unstable'?"

"You saw what he did out there," Ritsuko replied. "Not only did he tear the door off the Entry Plug, as you pointed out, but something else was wrong, too. The Plug was extremely hot after it was first ejected; I know you saw what that kind of temperature did to Commander Ikari."

The purple-haired woman nodded. "Yeah?"

"Well, when we recovered Shinji from the site, he had no visible injuries on his hands."

Misato's eyed widened even further. "Nothing?"

"Not a thing, the plugsuit was melted, but his skin was perfect. No sign of scarring or any kind of injury at all."

Misato leaned back in the chair, looking up at the ceiling. "This just gets weirder and weirder."

After a few minutes of tense silence, Ritsuko spoke again. "He's going to be released in a few minutes," the scientist said, looking at her watch. "If anything unusual happens, give me a call _immediately._"

Misato gave her a weak thumbs-up. "Will do."

The blonde woman nodded and turned, her lab coat ruffling gently as she strode to the door and opened it, disappearing down the hallway. Misato, meanwhile, let out a sigh of exhaustion, the day's events rendering the operations director extremely fatigued. "God, I need a _beer,_" the woman remarked, clenching her fist, miming the gesture of pulverizing aluminum. She stood up, and prepared to go meet her charge.

As she walked, Misato wondered about what had happened. Her mind kept returning to the image of Shinji, his muscles undulating as he forcefully ripped the door off of the still smoldering Entry Plug, and the animalistic snarl that, she suspected, he was not aware he had made. It was frightening to watch the normally timid young man in such a storm of rage. The operations director had not known Shinji that long, but it had never seemed to her that he was a violent type, even a secretive one. _Probably just combat high, _she told herself. But no matter how she tried to justify it, something was amiss with the Third Child, and she was going to find out what it was.

When Misato stepped into the hospital room, she found Shinji dressed in his normal clothes, sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at his right hand like he had unexpectedly grown extra fingers. He made no indication that he had noticed her entrance. He simply sat there, staring emptily. Finally, after a few tense moments, he let his hand drop, and he turned his gaze to Misato.

"Hey there," she said with a smile, hoping to enliven him a bit. Shinji smiled, and Misato could tell it was forced when it disappeared but a moment later.

"They told me about what happened," Shinji said, breaking eye contact and looking down at the floor. "I don't… I don't remember any of it."

"You saved Rei's life, you know."

"She saved mine," he said, with a bit more conviction. "That I _do _remember. I remember her jumping in front of me… and then the next thing I know, she's smiling."

Had it not been for Shinji's actions during the battle, this fact would have been the most surprising thing Misato had ever heard or seen. "She smiled at you?" When Shinji gave a nod, Misato cross her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Looks like you're moving in on the First Child, eh, Shinji-kun?"

Shinji blushed. "N-n-no! Why would you think that?"

Misato laughed. "Shinji-kun, you're so much fun to tease. Come on, let's go home, it's late."

( 0 0 0 )

In an office inside NERV headquarters, Gendo Ikari stared at the images from the battle with the Fifth Angel. He watched, impassive as always, Shinji's feat of superhuman strength, rewinding the footage to watch that particular snippet of film multiple times before fixing his gaze upon Ritsuko, who stood in front of his desk. "You have an explanation for this, Dr. Akagi?"

"Not as of yet, Commander. I am going to be conducting an examination of the Third Child within the next couple of days to ascertain the origin of this… phenomenon."

Gendo nodded. "Very well. In the meantime, have the Third Child placed under surveillance. I want any and all suspicious activity reported to me immediately."

Ritsuko bowed. "Yes, sir."

"You are dismissed, doctor." Gendo watched as Ritsuko left the office, then the man turned his chair to face out of the immense window behind him. He made a thoughtful noise, prompting the older man beside him to speak.

"So," Kouzou Fuyutsuki said, looking down at Gendo, "what do you make of this?"

"I think it is too early to form an opinion. I will wait for the doctor to perform her analysis of the Third Child before making a judgment."

It had never sat well with Fuyutsuki that Gendo referred to his son as the "Third Child." Something about it seemed wrong. Then again, a _lot _of things that went on in the organization were not exactly what one would call "right." "Yes, I suppose so. You don't think this will compromise your plans at all?"

"I very much doubt it. The Scrolls are precise; I find it difficult to believe that anything could disturb the scenario."

Fuyutsuki sighed at Gendo's persistence. It was a quality he both admired and despised about his former pupil. On one hand, the man could do anything he set his mind to, but on the other hand, what he had his mind set on was dangerous and, some would argue, evil. "In that case, I think I'd better head home, if we're finished here."

Gendo gave an almost imperceptible nod. "We are. I will see you tomorrow, Fuyutsuki-sensei."

The older man also left the office, leaving the commander of NERV alone with his thoughts. Gendo stood, walking toward the window and looking down at the Geofront below, his eyes drifting shut as his mind began working.

_What has happened to you, Shinji?_

With a thoughtful _humph, _he too left the office.

( 0 0 0 )

Author's Notes: So yeah, I'm hoping I dropped enough hints about what happened to Shinji. If you still haven't figured it out, a full reveal will be happening in the next chapter.

This idea sprung from a trend I've been noticing on , about stories featuring Shinji as a superhero. I wanted in on that, being a big fan of comic books, and this idea fulfilled two important criteria for me.

It hadn't been used yet (so far as I'm aware).

It made sense for Shinji as a character.

With June 13th coming upon us, I thought now would be a good time to finish and post this story that's been sitting in my computer for a while.

Again, if you haven't figured it out yet, wait for the next chapter.

Thanks go out as always to my prereaders, Scout and That Other Guy.


	2. Chapter 2: Threshold

Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion. The series belongs to Gainax, Hideaki Anno, and ADV Films. If any of the owners of the series ask me to remove this story from view, I will do so.

I also do not own anything that is property of Marvel Comics. The same disclaimer applies here.

With the events of the first chapter set in place, we can now get to the meat of the story.

_Neon Genesis Evangelion:_

_**Savage**_

_**Chapter 2 - Threshold **_

_By CenturyChild533_

_Days Without Incident: 4_

Misato had finally come to the realization that Shinji was not going to leave the apartment unless she forcibly dragged him out the front door. Once he had been debriefed after the battle with the Angel, berated by questions from several members of NERV's personnel, thoroughly examined by Ritsuko, and finally declared fit to leave the facility, the young man had immediately locked himself in his room. Shinji had only exited to make meals and to use the restroom. So far, Misato had respected his privacy, but her patience was beginning to wear thin. She idly toyed with the pull tab on the beer can in front of her and grumbled something unintelligible under her breath.

Ritsuko's orders to Misato to monitor anything suspicious in Shinji's behavior had gone largely ignored because of his self-imposed solitude. When she had asked Ritsuko about it, her friend had simply told her that Shinji had been under a lot of stress and to give him his space. "Eventually," Ritsuko had told her, "he'll come out on his own. You can't force him." The urge, however, was becoming increasingly harder for the Major to control. Her grip on her beer can unintentionally tightened as she stared at the door leading to Shinji's Lovely Suite. _God dammit. I'm gonna get you out of that room if it's the last thing I do. _Misato drained the rest of the beer and tossed the can across the room into the bin. Satisfied with the minor achievement, Misato stood up and walked over to the door, sliding it open a crack to look inside.

Shinji was on his bed facing the wall, listening to music from the tape player that he carried with him everywhere he went. _Hate that fucking thing, _Misato mused. _He listens to that whenever he starts getting depressed, and whatever's on there just makes it worse. _Misato pushed the door open a bit wider and entered the room, seating herself at the foot of Shinji's bed. "Shinji?" Misato said, hopefully loudly enough so that the young man could hear past his headphones. Just to make sure she had his attention, she gently tapped him on the leg.

His reaction was not the one she had been expecting. Shinji bolted upright, scooting backwards as quick as he could and letting out a scream that caused Misato to fall off of the bed in terror. Shinji's eyes were wide, his pupils dilated, and his breathing heavy as he realized he had just royally scared the _shit _out of his guardian. "M-M-Misato-san?" he managed to stammer out as he tried to calm himself.

Misato looked up at Shinji from her position on the floor, her face scrunched up in indignation. "What the hell was that for?" she shouted, standing up and brushing herself off.

Shinji paused, taking a deep breath and calming himself enough to form a coherent sentence before responding. "I'm sorry, Misato-san. I was having a bad dream, and you scared me. I didn't mean to freak out."

"It's all right. I probably shouldn't have been sneaking into your room while you were taking a nap anyway. Sorry."

Shinji clicked the off button on the SDAT player and set it aside. "It's all right. So, did you need something?"

Misato once again sat down on the edge of the bed. "It's nothing, just… I'm worried about you, Shin-chan. You haven't left the apartment in days. Are you sure you're feeling all right?"

Shinji averted his gaze and nodded. "I'm fine. I just… don't feel like going anywhere, that's all."

Misato sighed. "Shin-chan, four days you've been cooped up in here. I understand you've been through hell, but this isn't the answer to it. You've got to get out there, get some fresh air, some exercise, _do _something. Anything." The purple-haired woman crossed her legs and regarded her ward a bit more intently. "At least try to leave your room a bit more, if you don't leave the apartment, okay?"

Slowly, Shinji met her eyes and nodded. "Okay, Misato-san. I'll try."

She smiled and patted his head lightly. "Good. That's all I wanted to…" Misato's sentence was cut short when the light in the room suddenly went off. "What the hell?" She threw her legs over the edge of the bed and walked into the kitchen. "Ah, shit," she muttered. "All the damn lights are off. Let me go check the breaker."

As Misato went to find the circuit breaker, Shinji stood up, stretching his aching muscles. Four days spent loafing about the house doing virtually nothing had taken its toll on his body, and it was showing its protests as Shinji heard something pop in his back. "Ooh…" he groaned, hunching over a bit and wincing in pain. He walked awkwardly to the door of his room and exited for the first time in the better part of a week.

Slowly, feeling started to return to his spine, and Shinji stood upright. The lights in the apartment had all gone out, but the early morning sunlight streaming in through the windows brightened up the dwelling and made it easy enough to see. Shinji looked for his guardian and found her in the closet, leaning over a pile of clutter that Shinji tried not to think too hard about as she investigated the circuit breaker. Exasperated, Misato slammed the cover into place and turned to face Shinji.

"The problem's not on our end. It must be a transformer or something. Wait here, I'll go call someone, see if I can get an answer," she said as she searched for her cell phone. She found it on the table and flipped it open. Shinji, meanwhile, seated himself patiently on the couch.

His guardian's voice turned to little more than white noise as Shinji's thoughts once again strayed to the Angel attack. Thankfully, now, he was thinking about the more cheerful side of it – more specifically, that Rei Ayanami had smiled at him. The corners of his lips upturned slightly at the thought that he had made the girl happy. _She always seems so sad, _Shinji thought to himself as he reclined on the couch. _No, wait, that's not right. When I opened the Plug, she said she didn't know what to feel. Could it really be that she doesn't know any feelings at all? _Shinji sighed as he stared up at the ceiling and waited for Misato to get off of the phone.

Soon, Misato peered over the top of the couch. "Yeah, the power's out all over the place. Some kind of problem with the wiring; apparently the high humidity was starting to corrode some of them, and they finally broke. They're working on the problem, or so they tell me."

Shinji looked out the window at the blazing sun. "It's going to get hot in here without any air conditioning."

"Ah, shit. I didn't even think about that," Misato said grumpily, her face scrunching up in displeasure. "Well, NERV has air conditioning, and I need to be down there in a little while anyway. You want to join me?"

Shinji seemed a bit uncomfortable at the prospect, but under the circumstances he saw no other real option. "I guess so," he replied.

"Good. I'll go get changed and get my keys, and then we'll be on our way." Misato turned and went into her room, and Shinji remained on the couch, looking up at the ceiling, his earlier train of thought coming around for another pass.

_What must that be like? Not knowing what to feel… or not knowing what you're feeling when you do? _Shinji thought about the prospect of living in total emotional ignorance, and it was a rather frightening thought. He shuddered. _I couldn't do it… How could _anyone _live like that? _Then he remembered the conditions of her apartment, and the full meaning of Ritsuko's words from a week or so ago sank in.

_She's not very adept at living… too true. Too true…_

Shinji heard the jingling of keys, and his reverie was broken. He looked up and saw Misato once again looking over the couch.

"Come on, Shinji-kun. Let's roll."

( 0 0 0 )

With Misato working in her office, Shinji had taken to aimlessly wandering the hallways of NERV headquarters in search of something to keep himself occupied. He tried very hard not to pay attention to the people around him. People he passed had taken to stepping around him, as if he were plague ridden. This gesture did nothing to help abate his hesitance at being outside, given his current circumstances. Shinji reasoned that he had promised Misato to get out a bit more, and he resolved to do that in spite of the reactions he was receiving from his coworkers. Slowly, he put in the earpieces from his SDAT player and turned the device on, letting a stream of soft guitar notes lull him into a trancelike state as he walked.

Shinji finally came to rest at a bench against the wall, slumping against it and heaving a sigh, letting his eyes close. "What to do…" came his barely audible whisper as he leaned his head back against the wall. _There's really not a whole lot to do here except wander the halls. Then again, it's either this or I roast in the apartment. _Shinji opened his eyes and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and putting a hand to his forehead. _There's got to be something. _

As the song he was listening to came to a close, Shinji heard footsteps coming from his right. Inclining his head slightly he could see the skirt of a school uniform. He sat up fully and saw Rei about to walk past him. "Ayanami?" he said, almost to himself.

The impassive girl turned mechanically to face him. "Pilot Ikari."

It had not occurred to Shinji just how massively awkward speaking to the blue-haired pilot was going to be. He had not seen her since the Angel attack, and now that he did, what little memory he had of the events returned with a vengeance. "H-how are you, Ayanami-san?"

After a slight pause, Rei graced him with a short reply. "No problems."

"Oh," he said, taking a moment to carefully formulate his next contribution to the burgeoning conversation. "I'd thought that… maybe you'd been hurt in the attack, that's all."

"I sustained minor injuries, nothing life threatening. I am fit for duty."

Shinji breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good."

With a fractional head tilt and a quizzical expression, Rei asked, "You had concerns, Pilot Ikari?"

Shinji could feel his face heating up. "W-Well, I…" He made eye contact with her and decided against lying. Something told him she'd see through any attempt at deception, and really, what would the point of denying it be? "Yeah."

"Why?"

"If you had gotten hurt, it would have been my fault."

Rei was silent for a moment, as if considering what she had just been told. "I was performing the duties I had been ordered to perform. Injury is an inherent risk of piloting."

This didn't offer Shinji any relief. "I know… it just… would have _felt _like it was my fault, that's all."

"I do not understand," Rei said mechanically.

Shinji opened his mouth as if to speak then closed it again. He repeated this gesture twice before finally slumping his shoulders and sighing. "I guess I don't either."

"Then you should not feel responsible, should you?"

Shinji stared at her for a moment, trying to think of something to say. Rei looked over his shoulder as he did so. "Someone is coming this way," she said.

Turning his head to look, he saw Misato making her way up the hallway, the sound of her heeled shoes echoing in the confined corridor. "There you are, Shinji! I've been looking for you."

"S-sorry," Shinji said, and Misato thumped him lightly on the head with her fist.

"Wish I could get you out of the habit of saying that word every two sentences." The woman turned to the other pilot. "Hello, Rei." She smiled pleasantly. "Guess I should tell you, too. I just got word: they're shipping the Second Child to us from the German NERV branch in a week."

Shinji was more surprised by this than Rei, who did not react much at all. "Another pilot?" he asked.

"Yep, and another Evangelion to go with it. Ritsuko was telling me that it might be a good idea for one of the pilots to come to the carrier, try to make a good impression. Ayanami, would you be interested?"

"I have an appointment with the Commander that day, Major."

Misato turned to Shinji. "Guess that just leaves you, huh, Shinji-kun?"

Shinji nodded, getting the impression that he didn't really have a choice in the matter. "All right."

Misato beamed at him. "I knew I could count on you."

Rei bowed abruptly. "If there is nothing else, I must be going."

"Oh, sure, Ayanami," Misato said, giving her a bow and a wave. "See you later."

Shinji bowed as well. "See you later, Ayanami."

Her eyes seemed to linger on him for a moment, and then the red-eyed girl turned and walked down the hallway, taking a right turn at the end and disappearing from their sight. Misato nudged Shinji in the ribs. "So, stalking outside the girl's locker room, eh, Shinji-kun? I'd have never have believed it of you!"

Shinji looked at her oddly. "What?" He looked around and realized that he was, in fact, standing outside the door to the changing rooms. _That must have been where Ayanami was coming from when I bumped into her. _He blushed furiously, his cheeks turning a deep scarlet. "I-It's not like that! I just ran into Ayanami out here, that's all!"

Misato laughed heartily at his reaction. "You're so much fun to tease, Shinji-kun," she managed to choke out as she held her sides, which were aching from her laughter. After a while, she managed to stop. "Oh, that's right; I had something else I was going to ask you. Since Rei's staying here in case there's an attack and you're going with me, would you like to bring along those two pals of yours?"

He knew that she was referring to Kensuke Aida and Touji Suzuhara, the only people Shinji had who could be considered "friends." In truth, he did not know either of them that well, and their initial meeting had not been under pleasant circumstances. Touji's sister had been injured in Shinji's first run inside Unit 01, and the jock had seen fit to give Shinji a beating as repayment. The next time they had met, Shinji had saved the two boys from being crushed by an Angel after they had left their assigned shelter. Since then, they had been seeing each other more frequently, but Shinji still did not feel entirely comfortable around them.

_Then again, _he thought to himself derisively, _I don't really feel comfortable around anyone. _He looked to Misato and nodded. "They might like that. I'll ask them."

Misato smiled pleasantly. "Good. Let me know, and I'll put in the call to Ritsuko." The woman stretched, raising her arms high above her head and curving her back, then slumped and released a sigh. "I looked into the power situation. Looks like it'll take them a few more hours to fix it. Maybe we should go out and get some food in the meantime. You hungry?"

Shinji nodded again, and Misato took him by the wrist, practically dragging him down the hallway toward the parking garage. "That's a relief, because I'm not only starving, I'm going stir-crazy in here. _Finally _finished all the paperwork from the last Angel attack, and let me tell you, looking at that amount of compensation for property damage… gets depressing after a while."

Shinji bowed his head and murmured an apology, and Misato waved a hand. "Don't apologize; it's not your fault. Hazard of living in Tokyo-3: shit's gonna blow up from time to time. Now, pizza sound good to you?"

( 0 0 0 )

_Days Without Incident: 11_

Kensuke Aida, it seemed, could not manage to keep still in his seat. He fiddled obsessively with his camera, rechecking the settings for at least the fourth time in the past hour. The prospect of accompanying Shinji, an Evangelion pilot, on a mission to an aircraft carrier to retrieve another Evangelion pilot was simply too much for the boy to bear, especially given his naturally short attention span. He pointed his camera out of the VTOL craft's side window, capturing a rather stirring visual of the crystalline blue ocean water speeding by as they flew to their destination. Kensuke swept his camera's lens into the cabin, getting a shot of his companions.

Shinji was nervous, his brow furrowed in thought. Since Misato had mentioned to him that another Eva and pilot were going to be joining them in Tokyo-3, Shinji had begun to second-guess his importance to NERV. What if they decided they didn't need him anymore and discarded him? He did not enjoy piloting the Eva, and there was doubt in his mind that he ever would, but that did not mean he wanted someone to swoop in and take what little purpose in life he had. There was some part of him that thought this and another part that reminded him that three pilots could defeat Angels better than two. His inner conflict showed on his face, and he turned to the aircraft's other window, staring out at the waves, attempting to clear his mind.

Touji just stared at Misato, as he had been doing since their flight began. The major was seated in the co-pilot's seat, and she twisted around to face the three boys in the cabin, removing one massive earphone covering from the side of her head. "All right, you guys, I just got off the horn with the carrier, and they're prepared for our landing. We should be there in less than ten minutes."

Kensuke lowered the camera from his face. "That's great, Misato-san!"

"Thanks again for bringing us along, Misato-san," Touji chimed in, adjusting his new baseball cap in what he no doubt considered to be a subtle fashion.

"No problem, Suzuhara-kun," Misato replied, flashing her winning smile. "I thought Shinji could probably use the company." She took this opportunity to glance at her ward, who was still staring contemplatively out of the window.

Kensuke pointed excitedly. "There she is!"

Misato and Touji looked out the side of the VTOL where the bespectacled boy was indicating, and they saw a gray speck on the horizon rapidly coming into view. As they drew closer, Touji began to make out the shape of the object: a ship. He had only seen pictures of aircraft carriers, relentlessly bombarded by military material as he was (a hazard of being friends with Kensuke), but he had not imagined the sheer size of the vessel. The slate-colored behemoth was easily the size of a skyscraper lying on its side, the flight deck dotted with a number of one-man fighter jets. One object, even to Touji's untrained eye, looked remarkably out of place. A rectangular palette covered in beige-colored tarp sat off to one side of the deck, the cloth flapping in the sea breeze.

"That's her, all right," Misato said, removing her headphones, "the _Over the Rainbow."_

Only now did Shinji look up, breaking the reverie he had held for the last several hours. "We're here?"

"You bet."

The VTOL craft swooped in, its engines switching position and causing them to hover over the flight deck. Crewmen scattered about, and the controller guided the craft to the deck as it made its landing, bucking slightly before coming to a halt. The side panel fell forward with a pneumatic hiss, forming a short staircase. Misato climbed out first, signaling for the boys to follow. One of the ship's crew met with Misato and introduced himself with a handshake while Kensuke turned around in circles with his camera, seemingly trying to film everything on the craft at once. Touji stretched and yawned dramatically. "Ah, that feels better. Damn, I didn't know these plane things were so cramped."

Misato finished her conversation with the crewman. "This way, guys. We're meeting with the captain, so he can sign over control of the Eva."

"Well, well… I didn't expect to see you here, Misato-san."

The voice had not come from their group. The four of them turned to the source of the sound, and were greeted by a young redheaded girl in a yellow sundress. She wore a pair of red hairclips that Shinji recognized as A-10 neural connectors, the same kind that he wore during piloting. What struck him about this girl was not her hairclips but her eyes. She had bright blue eyes that were full of confidence, as if the smirk on her face were not enough indication. This girl was beautiful, and she knew it.

"Wow, Asuka. You've changed." Misato smiled, putting a hand on her hip. "Guys, I'd like you to meet Asuka Langley Sohryu, the Second Child."

The dramatic moment was ruined by an errant breeze. A gust of wind picked up and swept across the deck of the carrier, lifting Asuka's sundress and exposing her undergarments to virtually everyone on the flight deck. A split second later a loud crack rang out as her open palm impacted Touji's cheek. He took a step back and fumed, his eyes widening and his nostrils flaring like an angry bull. "What the hell was _that _for?" he raged.

"A viewing fee. I'd say it was reasonable, wouldn't you agree?"

"I'd say it was overpriced. Here's your change!" With that, Suzuhara abruptly dropped his pants, much to the astonishment of the rest of the group. This earned him a second slap from the Second Child.

Misato cleared her throat. Shinji was not sure if she was trying to break up the argument or stifle a fit of laughter. "Asuka, this is Shinji Ikari, I told you about him. The Third Child."

That was all it took for Asuka to divert her attention away from Suzuhara. She put her hands on her hips and strode confidently over to Shinji, narrowing her eyes and staring intently into his face. Shinji had the impression that he was being dissected by the girl's mind, like she was analyzing his strengths and weaknesses simply by looking at him. He suppressed a shudder and settled for a nervous tensing of the muscles.

Asuka took a step back after what seemed like an eternity. She raised an eyebrow. "He doesn't look like much. I thought he'd be taller." Shinji gave little visible reaction to this remark, other than averting his gaze to the deck.

Misato saved Shinji from having to reply. "Well, I still need to meet with the captain. We'd better go; I don't want to keep him waiting."

( 0 0 0 )

The next few hours were trying for everyone. Misato was having problems dealing with the uncooperative ship's captain, who refused to sign over the Evangelion until they reached port. Shinji had also been introduced to Asuka's guardian, Ryoji Kaji, a scruffy-looking man who had dated Misato during their college days. Misato had been less than pleased to find out that Kaji would be accompanying them back to Tokyo-3, and Shinji had spent the last several hours dividing his efforts between finding answers for Kaji's awkward questions about living with Misato and trying to avoid the Second Child. It had not taken long for Shinji to recognize Asuka's caustic personality, and he had only spoken to her when necessary, not wishing to provoke her ire further. She already didn't like him. Shinji could tell that from their first meeting, and he had discovered that his suspicions about that encounter were correct: Asuka had been sizing him up.

Kensuke was occupied trying to film every inch of the carrier, and Touji was following Misato like a lost puppy. With his two companions otherwise engaged, Shinji had taken up wandering the halls of the carrier aimlessly, wondering why in the world he had agreed to come along in the first place. _It was better than sitting at home by myself while Misato went or going to NERV and doing synch tests, _he told himself, but as he examined his current situation, he wondered if that was indeed the case. Shinji turned a corner and found an escalator leading to one of the upper deck.

"Hey, Third Child."

Shinji looked up when he heard Asuka's voice at the top of the moving staircase. She looked down her nose at him almost haughtily. "Come with me, I want to show you something."

Shinji got off the top of the escalator, and the girl grabbed his wrist and dragged him through the door. The sudden burst of bright sunlight to his eyeballs told Shinji that he was back on the flight deck. Asuka walked him across the deck, past rows of fighter jets and over to the enormous tarp-covered palette. She grabbed the edge of the tarp and lifted it up, then looked back to Shinji. "Well, what do you think?"

He stuck his head under the covering. He could see what appeared to be a massive humanoid form lying on its back, its body covered in a layer of slick red metal with some accents of orange. The two pilots were standing near its head, and Shinji could not be certain from his current angle, but it appeared that the thing had four circular green eyes. Shinji now knew what he was looking at.

"This is… an Eva?"

"Not just any Eva," Asuka said, smiling proudly. "My Eva. Evangelion Unit 02." She stepped under the cover, letting it fall behind her, and climbed atop the dormant monster's head. She swept an arm dramatically at it. "The first production model, superior to the prototypes in every way."

Something about this comment struck Shinji as a personal insult. He didn't say anything, but Asuka caught the flash of indignation in his eyes. "Well, it only makes sense that they'd make improvements. And naturally, they want the star pilot to have the best equipment."

Shinji's fists clenched. "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that I don't need your help, Third Child. I can fight the Angels by myself. I don't need some untrained boy to help me kill giant monsters."

The young man couldn't believe what he was hearing. "How can you take this so lightly? We almost died in the last fight."

"That's because, as I said before, you're untrained. With me here, they don't even really need you anymore."

Shinji fumed. "Have you ever fought one of these things?"

"No, but I've had the best military training money can buy since I was a child. I've been preparing for this, whereas you… well, where did they find you anyway? Pulled you right off the street, I'm guessing?"

"You've _never _fought an Angel?"

"Hey, weren't your eyes blue a second ago…"

"What?" Shinji asked, confused.

Asuka opened her mouth to speak, but did not get a chance to actually comment. The ship shook, knocking her from her perch on Unit 02's head, and she fell rather unceremoniously down to Shinji's level. She stood and brushed herself off. "What the hell was that?"

Shinji lifted the tarp and went to the guardrail on the ship's edge, looking out at the ocean. A plume of water had appeared, something that reminded Shinji of videos he had seen of whales breaching the surface. Scanning the immediate area, he could barely make out a silhouette of some kind beneath the waves, something that looked far too large to be a whale.

"What is that?" he wondered aloud.

Asuka looked around. "What's _what, _Third Child?"

"That!" He pointed at the massive shadowy shape.

"I dunno… whale, maybe?"

"It's too big, I think… it looks like it's about the size of this ship!" A frightful possibility occurred to Shinji. "You don't think it could be… an Angel, do you?"

Without warning, one of the ships in the battle group snapped in half like a twig, fire shooting into the air as the destroyer folded onto itself. The ocean rippled and foamed as the two halves of the ship sank beneath the surface, as if something were pulling it down. Shinji tore his eyes from the horrifying spectacle and looked at Asuka, who was grinning from ear to ear maniacally. "This is my chance… come on, Third Child!" With that she darted across the flight deck and dove under the tarp covering Unit 02. Shinji watched her, and then looked back at the destroyer. An underwater explosion, possibly a fuel tank, sent a geyser of water into the air and generated a muffled concussive boom. Shinji struggled to regain his footing as the carrier shook, and he ran to follow Asuka, tripping over his feet in his haste.

Ducking under the cloth cover, Shinji found Asuka opening a crate near Unit 02's feet, digging out what appeared to be a bundle of red plastic. It took him a moment to realize that she was picking up a plug suit. Before he could speak, she had tossed one of the garments into his arms. "Put this on, Third. We're going out there."

"Wait, what? What about Misato?"

"Who needs her? We can handle this. Put it on, quick!"

Shinji held the suit up and examined it. Sure enough, as he had feared, it was designed with females in mind. "This… what… no… I can't wear _this!" _

"Look, Third Child, I don't have time to argue with you. Misato probably knows something's going on by now. And we have to move fast. Put. The suit. On."

Shinji's ears filled with a high-pitched ringing as he felt his anger rise. It did not occur to him to take his usual calming breaths; his skin began heating up, his breath started coming in shorter bursts. "Don't talk to me like that." Shinji's voice took on an edge, something he had never heard before. He struggled to control his breathing, now nearing hyperventilation.

"I'll talk to you any way I damn well feel like, little boy! Now put this thing on, or so help me God I'll…" Asuka's voice trailed off as she caught sight of the boy's eyes.

Shinji's irises had changed from their deep cobalt blue to a dazzling emerald green, and they weren't just bright. They were glowing. His jaw was clenched, the veins in his neck bulging almost obscenely as he sucked in shallow breaths through his teeth, making a frightening rasping sound. For a moment, Asuka thought he was having some sort of seizure. Shinji's body jerked abruptly, his muscles rippling as if he had been electrocuted, and to Asuka's astonishment, they actually began to grow.

"I said… _don't…talk to me…like that!"_

( 0 0 0 )

_Days Without Incident: 0_

( 0 0 0 )

Misato stood in the observation tower on the _Over the Rainbow, _looking out at what little remained of the destroyer's wreckage. "What the hell was that? Someone get me a visual, _now!"_

The technicians and crewmen scrambled around, checking the readouts. "I've got a large contact on radar, major, right on the _Kawakimi_'s position!"

Misato looked over the radar tech's shoulder. The radar blip was enormous, bigger than the destroyed ship had been. As Misato watched, the radar swept again, and the bogey started moving directly toward their position.

"It's coming this way," the ship's captain said, grabbing the microphone. "All hands, brace for impact!"

Misato's eyes locked onto Unit-02, still lying on the flight deck and still covered. "We need to activate Unit 02."

"No way is that happening, Major," the captain said. "That toy's not going live on my ship. The seas are my jurisdiction; we can handle whatever this thing is."

"With all due respect, _Captain, _there's nothing this could possibly be but an Angel attack. That makes it my problem, and if we don't activate that Eva, more people are going to die. You've already lost a boat today. You prepared to lose another?" Misato stared daggers into the captain's eyes, putting on her best no-bullshit look.

It worked. "Find the pilot, get that thing active."

"Sir!" one of the technicians yelped. "We're picking up some kind of energy signature!"

The sailor growled, adjusting his cap. "Not another Angel… damn it, that's just what I need right now."

"No sir, contact matches no known energy signature. And it's… sir, it's coming from the _Over the Rainbow!"_

Misato's eyes widened. "What?"

"I'm trying to get a more precise location now, ma'am."

Someone else on the bridge shouted, "It's right on top of us!" The water on the starboard side exploded upward, and the beast made its first appearance. Misato stared in awe of the enormous sea creature, a monstrous combination of a stingray and a barracuda that was easily the size of a whale, if not larger. The creature was a sickening beige color, coated with a light film of slime. It reared itself up, flopping onto the flight deck like a massive pancake, and the entire ship shook under the impact. Misato stumbled, and then looked out at Unit 02. "Asuka! Get that thing moving!"

The Angel raised itself up again, preparing to slam back onto the flight deck. Misato grabbed onto the console, bracing herself for the shockwave, when she saw the tarp covering Unit 02 burst. But it wasn't the Eva that was moving. Something considerably smaller and bright green leapt through the air, propelling itself directly toward the Angel's chest, slamming into the fish-creature and knocking it back into the sea. The green thing landed on the flight deck with a loud boom, rearing itself up and throwing its head back, roaring triumphantly.

"What the hell…" Misato grabbed the pair of binoculars around her neck and trained them on the creature.

The green monster on the flight deck was humanoid, but it was much larger than any human being Misato had ever seen or heard of. It was difficult to tell from the distance she was at, but she estimated that it was roughly seven and a half to eight feet tall, its body composed of unnaturally large muscle beneath its jade flesh. The face was human, with messy black hair and squat features. Its mouth was open in a loud roar, exposing its rows of enormous yellowed teeth. Misato had never seen anything like it.

"Jesus Christ… what _is _that thing?"

The Angel broke the surface again, giving its own roar in a challenge to its new opponent. Misato caught a glimpse of something red inside the Angel's mouth, past its rows of serrated teeth, but it disappeared quickly. The green creature thumped its chest, and jumped off the deck, directly toward the Angel. It landed on the monster's head, and the fish-thing thrashed about wildly, trying to dislodge the interloper. Blood dribbled from the Angel's head as the jade giant dug its fingers into its flesh. Without warning the Angel threw itself backwards and dove beneath the waves, disappearing into the ocean.

The captain was already barking orders to get the guns in position when the radio crackled and Asuka's voice came through. "Misato, come in!"

Misato grabbed the handset mike. "Asuka! Is Unit 02 active?"

"Finally! First Shinji flips his shit and vanishes, then the startup sequence takes forever to calibrate! Yes, Unit 02 is online!"

"Wait," Misato said, "what did you say about Shinji?"

"You didn't see it?" Asuka shrieked as she brought Unit 02 to its feet, standing atop the _Over the Rainbow _and looking around.

"See what, Asuka?"

"That big green thing he turned into, what else?"

Misato's blood ran cold as she looked to where the angel and its mysterious green opponent had gone under. "That… that was _Shinji?"_

"Don't look at me, I'm just as confused as you are. What do you want me to do?"

Misato took a second to try to compose herself. "Unit 02's not equipped for underwater combat, so you're going to have to stay on the carrier."

"Screw that, I'm not letting this one get away!"

"Asuka, that is a direct order! Don't—"

Misato was cut off as the Angel resurfaced, shaking the carrier and causing Unit 02 to stumble. The fish monster thrashed once, throwing the green creature into the air. It flailed around for a moment before dropping, and the Angel opened its mouth, swallowing it whole.

"No!" Misato shouted, slamming her fist on the console.

Unit 02 stood and deployed its Progressive Knife. "All right, Moby Dick, looks like I'm gonna have to cut you open and pull him out, then!" Asuka said, holding the vibrating blade in front of her. The Angel floated on the surface, turning to face the red Evangelion and grinning, exposing its rows of knifelike teeth mockingly. Unit 02 jumped, rocking the carrier as it landed on the Angel's head and sunk its knife deep into its body. It floundered about randomly and threw the Eva through the air, where it hit the surface with a mighty splash.

"Damn it!" Misato raged. "Get the guns on that thing, open fire!"

Gun turrets along the carrier and the other remaining ships in the battle group roared to life, peppering the Angel with shells that it shrugged off with little more than casual annoyance. The beast floated for a moment, as if it were judging where would be the best place to strike the carrier. Suddenly, it bucked and released not a roar, but what sounded like a pained scream, as its side bulged and then burst, purple blood dyeing the ocean around the ship. Misato saw a small green figure fall from the open wound and into the water, and more solid organic matter fell out after it. After another few seconds of screaming, the Angel's body went limp, bobbing like a cork for a few seconds before dropping into the water and vanishing into the depths.

For a while, no one moved. The men and women on the bridge hardly breathed as they looked at the spot where the creature had been, astonished by the spectacle that had just unfolded before them. Misato looked for any trace of the mysterious green beast, but it had apparently sunken along with its kill. Then she saw something pink float to the surface: a human body. "We've got a body in the water. Get a retrieval team out there and get it—and my Eva—back on this tub! Go, go!"

As the medics scrambled around and the rescue operation got underway, all Misato could do was look at the man overboard and pray that Asuka had been wrong.

( 0 0 0 )

Shinji's eyes opened slowly, bright light flooding his ocular orbits as soon as he did. He blinked tiredly, trying to get his bearings. He could hear machinery beeping in the background, smell antiseptic and clean laundry. Muffled chatter came from somewhere else, another room or a hallway. Only one place Shinji knew of made sense.

"I hate hospitals," he groaned, wincing as he tried to sit up. He felt a hand on his shoulder urge him back down, and he craned his neck to look at Ritsuko, who was standing at his bedside.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Shinji," the doctor said, but she did not smile. She adjusted her glasses as she looked up from his EKG machine and then trained her gaze on him. Shinji was unsure, tired and likely drugged as he was, but he thought he could see something like a glimmer of fear in the scientist's eyes.

Shinji felt an abrupt rush of panic. "The Angel! Where's the Angel—"

"The Angel is dead, Shinji," Ritsuko said, cutting him off and once again urging him to lie down. "You killed it. Remember?"

He leaned his head back, staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling, and tried to recall what she was talking about. "I remember… Asuka. She was yelling at me. I yelled back at her, and then…" Shinji strained, closing his eyes. Finally he sighed. "I don't remember. What happened?"

"That," a gruff male voice in the room said, "is precisely what I would like to know, Third Child."

Shinji looked up. Gendo Ikari was standing at the foot of the bed.

"Let's talk, shall we?"

Author's Notes: Finally! At long last, the second installment of _Savage! _First and foremost, I'd like to apologize for taking so long with this chapter. Computer failure, laziness, stumbling across more fanfics, reading some Hulk books, and life itself all got in the way. For those of you who have stuck around, to anyone who e-mailed or PMed me asking for this chapter, I want to offer my sincerest thanks. Hopefully this chapter lived up to your expectations.

I'm gonna be putting _a lot _more effort into this one from now on, because in the time between chapters I've come up with a lot of ideas. Villains! Drama! Angels! Personal Demons! Cake! Stick around, True Believers!

Prereading done, as always, by Scout. Thanks. :-)


	3. Chapter 3: Behold Now, the Behemoth

Disclaimer: I do not own _Neon Genesis Evangelion. _The series and its characters belong to Gainax, ADV Films, and Hideaki Anno.

I also do not own Marvel Comics or any of their characters.

_Neon Genesis Evangelion:_

_**Savage**_

_**Chapter 3 – Behold Now, the Behemoth**_

_Days without incident: 47_

Rei Ayanami kept her vigil in front of the enormous reinforced blast door in the lower levels of NERV, as she had done for roughly the last two months. She had not been here every minute of every day, but whenever an opportunity would present itself, the young pilot found herself standing in front of the intimidating barrier and wondering what was going on behind it. Rei did not have the security clearance to access the room beyond; though she had been inside it more times than she could count, it had always been Commander Ikari who had used his access card. The fact that she knew what was in the room did little to ease her mind. Rather, it seemed to make her feel as if the situation were more dire than she was being led to believe.

There had been an incident of some sort on the carrier transporting the Second Child, that much she had been told, but the details remained a mystery. She had been in the room beyond the doors, floating in a glass tube of LCL as part of her routine sessions with Commander Ikari and Dr. Akagi, when the Commander had received an urgent message of some sort. He had ordered the test to end immediately and had Rei extricated from the tube at once. As she was being led from the room by Dr. Akagi, they had brought a stretcher past her carrying what looked to be Shinji's unconscious body. When she had asked about it, Rei had received a stern response from the Commander.

"It does not concern you, Rei."

Under normal circumstance this would have been enough to placate the First Child. But these were not normal circumstances. Shinji had appeared injured, perhaps grievously so, and Rei had not forgotten the promise she had made before their last engagement together. She had promised to protect him.

Now, as she stood outside the massive door that Shinji had been taken through, Rei wondered what she was supposed to do to make good on her promise. Rei turned her head at the sound of footsteps on the polished tile floor and found herself looking up at Ritsuko.

"Rei?" the doctor said questioningly, as if surprised to find the pilot here again. "You're still here?"

"Yes," Rei responded. "I was checking on Pilot Ikari."

Ritsuko appeared confused by this statement. Something passed across her features, an expression that Rei could not readily identify. Worry, perhaps? Before it could be analyzed further, Ritsuko smiled, the same small, almost condescending smile one would use when speaking to a toddler. "Shinji's fine, Rei. We're running some tests to make sure he's fit to pilot."

"I see," Rei said, turning her attention back to the door.

Ritsuko stood quietly for several moments before speaking again. "Are you... worried about him, Rei?"

Rei looked over her shoulder at the blonde doctor. "I am concerned for his wellbeing, yes."

"Why?"

"If Pilot Ikari is not fit for combat, the odds of successfully repelling an Angel decrease significantly."

"You're not confident in our new pilot?" Ritsuko asked with a raised, questioning eyebrow.

"She is inexperienced in the field. Pilot Ikari has more firsthand combat experience than Pilot Sohryu does. Or than I do, for that matter," Rei finished, as if this thought has just now occurred to her.

Ritsuko nodded in approval of Rei's tactical assessment. "You've both had extensive simulator training, though. I'm sure if anything happens, we'll be just fine."

"Understood, doctor."

"When we're done with Shinji, I'll let you know. You should go home, Rei."

Rei nodded imperceptibly. "Understood." The pilot bowed to Ritsuko, performed an abrupt about-face, and calmly walked toward the elevator.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Ritsuko gave a long sigh of relief. She did not like lying to the First Child; something about her eyes seemed to stare right into Ritsuko's heart, ferreting out any deception the doctor might be planning. Rei was smart, and something told Ritsuko that she would not be able to continue warding off the pilot's inquiries about her compatriot for much longer. With a swift swipe of her access card, the doctor walked through the narrow opening in the large blast doors and into the dimly lit laboratory beyond.

The blonde woman had to pause for several moments as her eyes adjusted to the dim, artificial lighting of the room, computer monitors glowing brightly like lighthouses. A string of green letters spiraled around the room, composed of the four letters of a human genetic code. Gendo Ikari stood in front of a tube in the center of the room, looking at it as if he had thought about nothing else but what lay within. Ritsuko would not have been surprised if that had been the case.

"How is he?" the doctor asked tentatively, attempting to catch the Commander's attention subtly.

When Gendo did not speak, a technician at one of the computer bays did. "Vitals are stable, ma'am. We've detected no abnormal brainwave activity since the last manifestation."

"What about physically?" Ritsuko asked, turning to face the young man at the console.

"All physical attributes are normal, ma'am. No change."

Ritsuko looked over his shoulder at the computer screen, adjusting her glasses as she read the data scrolling across the screen. "Keep monitoring him, as usual. Brainwave activity is priority; see if we can get a decent MRI of the skull. Last time we didn't get anything before we had to shut the test down."

"Aye aye, ma'am."

Ritsuko stood upright and walked back over to Gendo, standing just behind him. She spoke quietly. "Rei suspects something."

A ghost of a smile appeared on Gendo's face. "Of course she does."

"I'm concerned," Ritsuko said, her voice now down to a whisper. "She's exhibiting signs of empathy towards him. I thought we wouldn't have to worry about this?"

Gendo's lips straightened back out into his standard stone-cold visage. "Rei is not without the capacity to feel emotion. Rather, she lacks the necessary experience and socialization to _understand _what she is feeling." Gendo adjusted his sunglasses, his eyes trained on the tube, which emitted a faint gurgling sound from behind its glass surface. "Obviously, some of this is _his _doing."

"You think it was a mistake to bring him here?"

"Perhaps, in some ways. But Rei can be replaced, if necessary; her emotional state will not affect the scenario. But him... this most recent turn of events is curious indeed."

Ritsuko simply stood behind Gendo, taking a moment to marvel at the cold, calculating way in which the man spoke. It had always amazed (and disgusted) the woman that he could be so casual about matters of such importance as a human life. "I'm preparing another round of scans to see if we can obtain any more data on any possible physical change to his brain chemistry. Obviously something's going on in there, we just don't know _what _yet."

"Very well. Contact me as soon as you have some results. I will be in my office." Gendo turned away from the tube, looking directly past Ritsuko, and walked toward the laboratory door. It opened slightly and closed with a deafening boom. Ritsuko sighed and turned her attention back to the fixture in the room's center.

"Lights."

The obsidian surface abruptly flared amber, refracting the LCL inside. In the center, suspended by a network of tubes and a breathing mask, was Shinji Ikari.

"Another day, Shinji-kun."

( 0 0 0 )

Ryoji Kaji repositioned his legs for about the tenth time in the past several minutes. To Kaji, however, those minutes were starting to feel like hours. He sat in the chair across from Gendo Ikari's desk, waiting on NERV's commander to return. Kaji hated this office. It was always kept cold, and the scruffy-looking man was beginning to wonder if the temperature was not another clever device to enhance Gendo's already intimidating presence. _If that's __what it is, _Kaji thought to himself, surreptitiously checking the briefcase by his feet, _it's working. This room is giving me the creeps. _He looked upward and sighed, the Sephirothic diagram on the ceiling doing little to alleviate his discomfort. Kaji stood, picking up the briefcase and walking over to the window, looking out onto the Geofront below. _That's better, _he thought to himself, already feeling relieved. _Rather than looking at a room devoted to man's insanity, I'll look at a symbol of man's persev__erance over adversity. _He looked backward at the office. _Although, one man's perseverance could be perceived by another as insanity._

Kaji shook himself; that line of thinking was dangerous, especially in an environment that seemed to thrive off of his insecurities. More often than not, Kaji was able to hide those, but this place and its master had a tendency to make him feel rather like a frog on a dissection table, being examined, poked, and prodded. But he was a man of secrets; he thrived on them, and most importantly, he knew how to keep one. _Maybe that's why I got picked for this little delivery. _Again, he looked at the briefcase.

The door to the office opened, and Kaji turned, smiling at Gendo as he entered the office. "There you are. Starting to wonder if you were keeping me in suspense on purpose."

Gendo looked at him enigmatically as he crossed the room, rather wraith-like, and slid into his chair behind the jet black slab he called a desk. "Now why would I do that, Agent Kaji?"

"I can think of a thousand different reasons, Commander."

"You brought it?"

Kaji nodded. "Naturally." He lifted the briefcase, setting it on the desk in front of Gendo and turning the heavy security key clasps toward the man. "As you requested."

Gendo's eyes examined the case rather clinically, as if looking for any small fault. He nodded, satisfied. "I will examine the contents later. For now, I have another situation that requires attention."

This surprised Kaji. "Really? I was under the impression there wasn't anything more important than what's in that case."

"In the long run, there is not. This problem affects us more immediately."

"You're talking about what happened on the ship, aren't you?"

Gendo nodded. "Yes. Luckily, there was no additional media blackout necessary; one was already in place due to Unit 02's transportation. But the... creature, for lack of a better word, is a matter of interest to me."

"I didn't get a chance to see it, myself. What was it?"

"Shinji."

Kaji did a double take. "I'm sorry?"

"For reasons we cannot fully explain at this point, the Third Child has undergone some sort of metamorphosis." As he spoke, Gendo brought up a small computer console in the desk and opened a heavily encrypted file. It was security footage from the ship, and Kaji watched with some degree of awe as Shinji transformed into the hulking green beast that had destroyed the Angel. Gendo paused just after the transformation was complete and Shinji's altered state reared its head back and unleashed a mighty roar. Kaji looked at the finished product with no small amount of trepidation.

"Jesus," he whispered.

Gendo folded his hands in front of his face, leaning forward. "Indeed. Needless to say, this presents us with a number of problems. We are currently keeping the Third Child quarantined and heavily sedated until the full effects of this development can be examined."

"Like what, for instance?"

"For starters, if these... _events _are random or triggered by some outside stimuli. Also, I want to know if this will affect his ability to pilot. If the Third Child is unable to activate Unit 01, we will have to find some other way of utilizing it."

Kaji nodded. "It does have the best track record so far."

Gendo nodded. "The Third Child is the only one who has been able to synchronize and control Unit 01 reliably. That leaves us now with two pilots as opposed to the three we were expecting."

"You're already looking for another one?"

"A precautionary measure. With this taken care of," the commander said, adjusting his glasses and resting a gloved hand on the sleek briefcase, "your secondary objective just became your primary one. The Second Child's safety is now your foremost responsibility."

"What about Rei?" Kaji asked, crossing his arms and leaning back in the chair.

"Rei is taken care of. Your old friend Katsuragi has requested that the Second Child be transferred into her care. She did the same with Shinji." Gendo reached into his desk, extracting a piece of paper. "This is your assignment, and your accommodation."

Kaji took the sheet of paper, looking over Gendo's crisp, methodical kanji. His eyes widened slightly. "You want me to live with Misato?"

Gendo nodded curtly. "The two of you should prove capable of keeping the Second Child safe from harm, as opposed to just one of you."

Kaji whistled. "Katsuragi's not going to be happy about this one."

"She does not have to be," Gendo said, leaning back in his chair. "This is not a request."

( 0 0 0 )

A veritable mountain of paperwork wobbled precariously, threatening to empty itself onto the floor of Misato's office. The major reached a hand up, carelessly and automatically, preventing the avalanche of forms and documents that had been growing larger rather than smaller as the day went on. The woman sighed, slowly running her hands through her long, violet hair, her brow beginning to sweat and her eyelids becoming heavy. She had been at this all day, chipping away at the task in front of her, all the while feeling like an ant trying to tear down a house brick by brick. She scrawled her signature onto the piece of paper in front of her, moving it into the tray on her right and taking another from the top of the tower, once again steadying it with her hand.

Misato's vision blurred, and she shook her head, trying to focus on the writing. "I've seen this form before," she mumbled through clenched teeth. "Filled one of these fuckin' things out already, I swear I did." Too tired to search through the completed forms, Misato simply attempted to read through the one in front of her, her mind wandering back to what had happened the day before. It had been a long and painful debrief, as every member of the _Over the Rainbow_'s crew was grilled by military personnel and investigators about the events that had unfolded. Normally, it was NERV doing the interrogating and covering up, which made Misato feel uneasy about the whole business, even more than she would have been otherwise.

_Two men argued outside the door, and Misato could hear them__ both. It didn't sound like the typical jurisdictional pissing match, like the one Misato had entered into with the _Over the Rainbow_'s_ _captain what felt like days ago. In reality it had been less than twenty-four hours, and four of those had been spent in__t__his very small__,__ dark interrogation room. One overhead light shone almost painfully bright overhead, and the room contained two chairs and a table. The only other object was a security camera in one of the room's upper corners; Misato could see the tiny red __light blinking, showing that she was being recorded. She forced one of her winning smiles for whoever was on the other end, feeling slightly better now that she had flaunted whatever authority was keeping her here._

_ With an abrupt click that sounded like a gunshot in the silent, enclosed space, a man in an impeccably pressed black suit and white dress shirt opened the door and stepped through. He looked at Misato, removing a pair of large, mirrored aviator sunglasses. "Major Katsuragi?"_

_ Misato looked him over; he was average looking, well muscled with extremely short cropped hair and an intense expression. Misato had seen enough men like him in her time. "That'd be me. Who's asking?"_

_ "My name doesn't matter. What does is who I represent." The agent (Misato assumed that he was some sort of agent, anyway) set a manila folder down in front of her bearing an insignia for an organization she did not recognize, with no letter markings of any kind. The logo was a large, spread-winged eagle._

_ "Inside there," the agent said, "you'll find a list of nondisclosure forms and debriefing information regarding the incident. We've already spoken with Commander Ikari. Long and short of it is that this matter is classified at the highest level. You're to keep all information regarding the events of the last twenty-four hours in the strictest confidence unless speaking to your Commander and Sub-Commander."_

_ Misato raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of them, I'd like to confer with my superior officers. I'm not signing anything or agreeing to anything without their say so."_

_ The man in the suit nodded amicably. "By all means." He handed Misato her cellular phone, __which had been confiscated from her shortly before her arrival. She took it, and speed-dialed the __Commander's number._

_ After a few short rings, he answered. "Ikari."_

_ "Commander, it's Katsuragi."_

_ "I hope for your sake, Major, that this is important," he said, his voice gruff, carrying a hint of annoyance._

_ Misato briefly explained her situation. After a pause over the line, she heard his voice again. "Yes, I'm aware. Major, for now, sign the forms and keep what happened there to yourself. I'm in the middle of a debrief myself."_

_ "You've... heard about what happened then, sir?"_

_ "I have. And I am dealing with it as we speak. For now, offer your cooperation and your assured silence. We can discuss this upon your return." With that, the line went dead._

_ Misato looked at her phone in confusion. She had never known the Commander to oblige another organization so easily; he had surely not done so with the military branch that worked alongside NERV, and he did not take kindly to being ordered around, especially by an organization with no given name or authority._

_ She looked back up at the agent, who nodded slightly. Misato sat down and sighed. "You got a pen?"_

Since then, Misato had been filling out incident reports and cost assessments from the damage done to the ships in the battle with the Angel, and she had not left the office in several hours. "I need a break," the Major mumbled as she stacked another form on the completed pile.

"Major Katsuragi?"

"Nyaaaaaah!" Misato yelped, taken completely by surprise, absorbed as she was in her current task. She sat bolt upright, her eyes open wide and locked onto Rei's pale face. Several seconds of dead silence ensued as Misato attempted to catch her breath and slow her rapidly beating heart. The stack of paperwork on the desk finally fell over, spilling onto the office floor and cascading off of the desk like autumn leaves. Rei watched them fall then looked back up at Misato. "Have I come at a bad time?"

Misato's eyes darted to the forms and files, then back up to Rei. "No, Rei. I don't think I'm gonna be able to stare at fine print much longer, anyway." She smiled, welcoming the distraction. "What can I do for you?"

Rei's eyes lowered, and she appeared to be in thought, choosing her words carefully. Misato had never noticed her do this; Rei's clipped speech was usually prompt, as if she prepared her responses and her questions in advance. Now it seemed the First Child, for the first time, was having difficulty finding her words. "I believe I am... worried."

"Worried?" Misato stood, wincing as one of her joints popped, a side effect of sitting in her office chair for so long.

"Yes. About Pilot Ikari." The blue-haired girl hesitated once more.

Misato leaned against the front of her desk, folding her arms in front of her and listening patiently. "With Shinji? Why?"

"I have been assured that he is physically well and that he is undergoing tests. However, I do not know why. I believe it to be classified beyond my clearance level."

Misato nodded. "It is."

Rei looked at the floor, as if considering this information. "I see."

"So why come to me?" Misato asked, more than a little bewildered.

"I was unsure of how to approach the situation. You are Pilot Ikari's guardian. I suppose I wanted to see if you... shared my concerns." To Misato's surprise, Rei blushed.

Misato couldn't help but smile about that. "Yeah... look, Rei, legally speaking I can't talk about what's going on. You understand that." Rei nodded at this. "But privately?" Misato said, taking a deep breath, suddenly feeling like she was being interrogated. "Privately, I'm as worried about all this as you, Rei. For a lot of other reasons."

Rei stood there for what felt, to Misato, like several hours. In reality it was only a few minutes, but Rei's absorption in her own thoughts told the Major that she would have stood there for days if she needed the time. "I see. Thank you for your time, Major."

Misato offered Rei a comforting smile. "No problem." Rei turned to go, but Misato stopped her. "Hey... if you need to talk to someone, I'm here."

There was silence as Rei locked eyes with the older woman again, then averted them again, thinking. She bowed, silently, then left, the door closing behind her with a pneumatic hiss. Misato looked at the mess on her floor and rubbed her temples, as if to alleviate a great pressure building up inside her head, then began picking the papers back up and stacking them on her desk, this time in smaller piles rather than one enormous column. As she did so, Misato replayed what had just occurred in her mind. She could not help but feel a certain sense of unease; Rei had never approached her about a situation before.

_Then again, _Misato thought to herself, _Shinji's never been involved before._

The thought, oddly, did nothing to comfort her.

( 0 0 0 )

_Days Without Incident: 52_

The harsh spotlight flared to life over Gendo's head as he sat at the empty desk in the simple, barren room, causing his skin to itch underneath his shirt and uniform jacket. He knew that the chamber was meant to be uncomfortable, even unsettling, so as to intimidate those who would stand before the council. Many things about SEELE's methods made Gendo question whether the cadre of old men were not as powerful as they led him (and others) to believe; rather, they hid behind veneers of intimidation and subterfuge, operating in shadow so as to seem more imposing than they actual were. It reminded Gendo of an old saying. _The devil you know, and the devil you don't. _He adjusted his glasses and took a deep breath, wishing to remain stoic and imposing himself when they made their appearance.

It did not take long. A rush of air like the exhalation of some otherworldly specter signaled the arrival of SEELE 01. The black monolith, a holographic image that acted as the councilman's face in these backdoor roundtables, was seven feet tall at least, featureless save for block letters in brilliant, eye-searing red: SEELE 01. SOUND ONLY. 01 was the chairman, the leader, or at least the one the others defaulted to. There were twelve in all, with Gendo making thirteen. This fact always reminded him of his studies of the Bible, of Jesus and his twelve disciples. He had wondered if this was intentional at first, before quickly realizing that it must be.

"Ikari," the monolith's voice rasped, echoing in the immense chamber. "We have heard of your recent troubles. It seems your project has grown more complicated than you anticipated."

Gendo ignored the blatant condescension, instead making a statement of his own. "I do not appreciate yielding my authority to outside agencies, least of all ones I do not know or recognize." He adjusted his glasses. "I assume there is a suitable explanation for this?"

More of the hovering black tablets appeared, the beginnings of a circle forming, with Gendo and 01 at opposite ends of the radius. 04 was the next to speak, his voice grating on Gendo's nerves like the squalling of a spoiled child. "You dare to question this council's decisions?"

"In this case, I feel it is justified. You are asking me to hand over an extremely important matter to an organization I have never heard of. Naturally, I am troubled."

07 interjected, his voice deep and sonorous. "You are not prepared to deal with such a matter, Ikari. Nor do you have the luxury of becoming distracted. The Angels are your primary concern, are they not?"

Gendo had thought of this and planned an argument against it in advance. "Indeed. But in order to maintain a stable pilot roster, the Third Child's condition merits investigation. It could be detrimental to his ability to pilot. Since he is the only pilot so far able to successfully operate Evangelion Unit 01, his status is of the utmost importance."

There was silence in the room for a moment before Gendo plowed on, sensing he had some headway. "So, with that in mind, why should I turn over part of my primary concern to a nameless group of men with only your word to go on?"

"Because those were your _orders, _Ikari," 01 barked, his voice suddenly loud and irate. "You should not require any more explanation than that."

"Perhaps he is right to ask for it," 03 said, his voice calm, calculating, and cold. "Under normal circumstances I would agree with the council, but these are hardly normal circumstances."

Silence reigned over the room for several tense moments. Gendo felt his forehead begin to sweat; he was thankful no one could notice.

"Very well," 01 intoned authoritatively. "I suppose under these conditions we can give Ikari some information." The monolith did not move, but Gendo could feel the chairman's attention focusing on him and him alone. "They call themselves SHIELD. They are an American security organization with ties to the United Nations."

Gendo bristled. "Americans."

"SHIELD is an acronym for the Stategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division. They are tasked with dealing with threats and problems exactly like the one we are now presented with. They are specialists. Which is why, despite your views on the matter, you are to hand over control to them."

The low hum of the lights and the strange whirling of air currents around the black slabs were the only sounds that perpetuated the chamber for a while after this statement. Gendo understood it for what it was: the end of the discussion. That suited him fine; he had what he wanted. "Understood, chairman. My people will begin preparations for the Third Child's transfer."

"A wise move, Ikari," the annoying, wheezy voice of 08 said. "Expect contact from one of SHIELD's agents within two days." The electronic hum subsided, and the circle of obsidian markers vanished, leaving Gendo alone in the sealed room. He sat there for an extended period of time; exactly how long, he was not sure. Time seemed to stand still in the council chamber, and Gendo was glad, for it was one of the few places he was afforded such a luxury. Thoughts tumbled in his mind, and he inhaled deeply, sifting through and organizing them until a plan began to come together.

Once he had assembled his scheme, he stood, pushed his chair back up against the barren desk, and strode to the far wall, a door sliding open to accommodate him. As he predicted, Fuyutsuki was waiting for him outside, and the older man looked at him expectantly. "Well?"

"Put a call in to Intelligence Division. I want to know everything they can find about SHIELD."

"SHIELD?" Fuyutsuki asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The old men have seen fit to put this matter into another set of hands. They have given me little to no information, but they gave me enough. Whatever they think this is, it is important to them, which makes it even more important to me." He began walking down the hallway, and Fuyutsuki followed. "Meanwhile, send an order to Dr. Akagi to have the Third Child prepped for transport."

"They're moving him? To where?"

Gendo adjusted his glasses. "Intelligence had best find that out, or they'll all be looking for new jobs."

( 0 0 0 )

_Days Without Incident: 54_

Ritsuko focused on the monitor showing Shinji's life support signs and vitals, relieved to note that everything looked stable. "Absolute miracle," she mumbled under her breath. She was used to working under tense conditions, but the order from the Commander had been made her highest priority, and the doctor had been forced to cobble together a solution in what could only be described as an unacceptable timeframe. The holding unit that housed the Third Child had never been designed to be portable, and it had taken considerable technical expertise from her and her staff to actually formulate a way of keeping their subject sedated (and, more importantly, alive) for the journey to their mystery destination. Ritsuko borderline resented the interference from outsiders in what she perceived to be a matter for NERV's scientists, and no one else. However, that had not been her decision to make, so she did what she always did under such conditions: exceptional work.

Now, with the LCL tank laying down rather like a coffin, hooked up to a small but powerful generator and a number of life support monitors, computer displays, and oxygen tanks to resupply the LCL inside, Ritsuko took a spare few seconds to admire the work of her team. "Well, Shinji," she said, also abandoning her usual detached manner, "I guess this is goodbye. Shame. We barely got to know each other."

A loud click resonated in the laboratory, and Ritsuko's blood ran cold. Only one thing she knew made a sound like that: the sound of a round being chambered in a handgun. Without thinking that such a sudden movement might cause her attacker to pull the trigger, Ritsuko whirled around to face her assailant and almost laughed at the bizarre sight in front of her. Rei Ayanami stood there, her skin glowing under the pale green lights of the lab, her features carved into a determined expression. Yet Ritsuko saw something else in the depths of her crimson eyes, something she never thought she would see in Rei:

Fear.

"Ayanami," Ritsuko spoke, trying to keep her voice calm and level, "what are you doing?"

"I apologize for this, Dr. Akagi," the girl said, her voice quivering only slightly, "but these methods are necessary. I could come to no other conclusion."

"Where did you get that?" Ritsuko nodded to the handgun.

"Your desk. I am surprised you did not recognize it."

Ritsuko was mystified. "How did you-"

"I have been observing you and your team for the last week, doctor. What I have discovered has been troubling, to say the least." Rei looked at the holding tank. "Is Pilot Ikari inside?"

Ritsuko thought it best not to lie at this point in the discussion. Rei had always had an uncanny ability to know when people were lying to her. "Yes, he is."

"Is he still alive?"

"Rei, you think we would -"

The pilot cut her off again. "Answer my question please, doctor."

Ritsuko swallowed. "Yes."

"Very well then. I know that you are preparing to transfer Pilot Ikari into the custody of another organization. I cannot allow this to occur. You will accompany me outside this facility, whereupon you will provide me with a vehicle. I will then take Pilot Ikari with me."

"Why are you doing this, Rei?"

Rei hesitated, her arm wavering slightly, as if the weight of the weapon in her grip was beginning to take a toll on her. "I made a promise to him. I am trying to keep that promise."

"Despite your better judgment?" Ritsuko asked, her voice carrying a little more heat that she had intended. "Rei, this is wrong. You know it is."

"I understand that this is... well outside my normal parameters," Rei said, staring down the barrel as she adjusted her fist, tightening her grip on the handle. "But I believe that harm will come to Pilot Ikari unless I act. Not only did I promise to protect him... he saved my life."

Ritsuko looked over at the holding tank, thinking about the footage from the carrier, thinking about what Shinji had become, what he had done to the Angel. "You don't know the whole story, Rei. We're trying to help him."

"You may be. But these others may not. I am afraid that is a risk I am unwilling to take."

Ritsuko's heart beat rapidly in her throat, unsure of Rei's capability. "You're willing to kill me for that belief? For someone you hardly know? I practically raised you, Rei."

"That is not my choice, doctor. You are the one who decides what transpires. Assist me, and you will come to no harm by my hand."

"And what about the Commander? What would he say when he finds out about this? What will he think of his precious First Child?"

Rei bristled, taking a step forward. "I do not have the time to debate the matter with you further. Will you help me, Dr. Akagi? More to the point, will you help Pilot Ikari?"

Ritsuko's eyes darted over to the casket, her mind racing. On the one hand, she was virtually certain that Gendo would kill her if she allowed Rei to take Shinji from the facility. On the other, the scientist was also reasonably confident that Rei had it in her to kill someone. Disarming the First Child was out of the question; despite her small stature, the First Child was much better trained in combat than Ritsuko was, a product of her rigid, single-minded upbringing. Ritsuko sighed. She was going to have to take her chances no matter which choice she made. In the end, the more immediate danger won out. "Fine. I'll help you, Rei. But you should know they won't take this lying down. They'll find you. Both of you."

"I am aware of the repercussions, doctor. Let us proceed."

( 0 0 0 )

Ritsuko took a position behind the cart, wheeling the metal holding tank out of the laboratory as Rei walked alongside her, an oversized lab coat draped over her slim shoulders disguising the pistol that she still had aimed at Dr. Akagi. The sight of the blonde doctor and the blue-haired pilot drew little attention from the security staff, who had grown used to the comings and goings of the pair over the last two months. Ritsuko's forehead was beaded with sweat as the echoing of her shoes resonated in the corridor and bounced around her eardrums like cannon fire, making her temples ache. For some reason, she found herself unable to maintain her usual level of composure. "Rei, why are you doing this?" the woman asked, finally unable to keep the question to herself any longer.

"If we must discuss this," Rei whispered, her voice almost inaudible over the squeaking of the cart's wheels and the thudding of their shoes, "we must do so quietly. Maintain your bearing."

Ritsuko did not look at Rei as the girl spoke, keeping her eyes front. "Shortly after Pilot Ikari's accident, he indicated to me that we might die in our attempt to destroy the Angel. I promised that he would not die, that I would protect him. I did so, taking a hit from the Angel's energy beam with the shielding you provided to us before the operation."

The First Child paused, blinking her red eyes a couple of times, as if taking stock of herself. "Then something happened that I did not anticipate. Pilot Ikari risked himself to save me. In truth I do not understand why, and I had no opportunity to question him on the matter.

"I was also unable to accompany Pilot Ikari and Major Katsuragi to the carrier to meet the Second Child. Upon their return, it was clear that something had happened. I spent roughly the first month curious yet content to remain ignorant of the circumstances regarding what had taken place. Investigation through the usual channels proved fruitless; thus, I chose a less official course of action."

Ritsuko understood what she meant. "You were spying on us."

Rei nodded. "Quite so."

"The Commander would throw you in the brig if he knew about this," Ritsuko said, unable to keep the small smile from her face.

"I have no doubt. Which is why secrecy was my utmost priority. It took considerable effort, but I was able to access video taken from the _Over the Rainbow _and see Pilot Ikari's..."-Rei searched for an appropriate term-"... transformation. I was also able to ascertain that he was to be transferred into the custody of someone else."

"If you've seen what he can become, then you know how dangerous he is," Ritsuko whispered, a touch of panic in her voice.

"I do. I also understand that whatever organization he is being turned over to will likely harm Pilot Ikari in their attempts to understand his newly acquired power. Were I to allow this, I would be breaking my vow to protect him."

"That promise must mean a lot to you." Ritsuko's gaze shifted to the casket in front of her. "_He _must mean a lot to you."

Rei looked over to the doctor. "I am responsible for him." She shifted her eyes, looking around. "We are nearing the vehicle dock."

NERV's Geofront was a subterranean level deep beneath the surface of Tokyo-3, a miracle of modern engineering. Much of the city above had been constructed on a grid system, and the more important or expensive sectors lowered into the ground in case of an Angel attack. From below, Tokyo-3 sat suspended upside down like enormous steel and glass stalactites on the ceiling of an immense cave. The Geofront itself sported the buildings of NERV HQ, the black pyramid of central command standing out in stark contrast to the clear blue lake and the flowing emerald grasses below. What was of interest to Rei and Ritsuko was the vehicle lifts, networks of tubes and cables that ferried vehicles and their passengers from the city above down to NERV's garages.

Making it onto one of the cable cars, however, was no easy task for most. There were stringent security measures in place to prevent unauthorized access and leave, first and foremost being an electronic scanner that read the key cards NERV personnel were issued. This did not worry Rei. What concerned her was the team of Section 2 security agents that were likely standing beyond the terminal to handle the exchange, along with whatever people this other agency saw fit to bring. Her appearance was unusual, and she was known to them. If this plan was to succeed, she could not be seen.

"Doctor. How is this exchange going to take place?" Rei asked, now feeling what she thought to be trepidation. The difficulty of this task was beginning to show itself.

"I don't know how they planned on getting him out of here," Ritsuko responded, swiping her identity card at the door. The hefty metal blast doors vibrated as the locks within unlatched themselves, and the room shook as they drew back. "They'd need a large vehicle to carry this kind of container, though, so I'm guessing it must be a van or armored truck. Probably the latter."

"I see. Then we have no choice. We cannot transport Pilot Ikari in a container this large without being noticed. We have to remove him from the tank."

Ritsuko blanched, her skin turning almost the same color as her captor's. "Rei... I really don't think we should. Shinji's condition is... unpredictable, at best. I have no idea what will happen if we open this thing and let him out."

Rei nodded thoughtfully. "I am aware of that. I am also aware of what will happen if we do not. Inevitably, we will be captured and disciplined, I suspect rather severely." No one stood near the pair, and Rei took this opportunity to remind Ritsuko of her position by aiming the pistol at her. "Open the tank."

The blonde doctor's eyes darted from the tank to the gun then back to the tank. "God help me." She pushed a button on the console mounted to the side of the silver cylinder, watching as air hissed from the vents, breaking the hermetic seal. As she lifted the lid, the LCL inside rippled, murky and dark without the light from the Entry Plug or the main system. Rei peered over the edge of the lid down at the sleeping face of Shinji Ikari, strangely peaceful as he floated on his back, barely breaking the surface of the orange fluid.

"Ikari-kun," Rei whispered, her voice soft and desperate, "wake up. We have to go."

"He's under the influence of about a dozen different sedatives right now, Rei. We kept him under after he almost transformed during one of our tests. Punched through three inches of solid glass before we managed to knock him out."

"Understood. Help me lift him, then."

Rei stood at the base of the container, tucking her pistol into the pocket of her lab coat and dipping her hands into the LCL to grasp Shinji's ankles. It took her a moment to find her grip, the slippery connection fluid making her efforts rather difficult, but she eventually looked up to Ritsuko and nodded, affirming that she had him. Ritsuko reached into the other end of the container and slipped her arms under Shinji's own, and with a silent nod the two women lifted, drawing the unconscious boy out of the tube. Rivulets of goo dripped from his unconscious form and pooled on the concrete under their feet as they lowered his feet to the floor, and Rei drew the lab coat from her shoulders and draped it around the boy's naked form. She tucked the handgun into her vest as Ritsuko brought Shinji's arm around her shoulders, hoisting him into a standing position.

"Great," Ritsuko huffed, "so now we've got him up and about, but we don't have a way out of here."

"We do." Rei reached into her vest and drew out a set of keys that Ritsuko recognized as belonging to a NERV company car.

"Well, well, Rei. Assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, and now theft of NERV property all in one day." The doctor grinned sardonically. "If I weren't so angry with you right now, I'd be impressed."

"Your assessment is appreciated, doctor. Let us locate the vehicle."

NERV owned a respectable number of its own vehicles for official use, mostly by the Section 2 security division during their operations. For the most part, they were unassuming black sedans bearing the NERV leaf insignia on the front license plates for easy identification. Something would have to be done about that eventually, but in the meantime, it would do. At least, Rei hoped that it would. She produced her key after stopping at one of the cars and opened the driver's side door, pushing a button that popped open the trunk.

"You're gonna put him in there?" Ritsuko asked, mildly incredulous.

"Do you have a better suggestion?"

Ritsuko didn't. With Rei's help, they once again lifted Shinji off the ground and lowered his legs in first.

Then he woke up.

( 0 0 0 )

_Deep within the recesses of Shinji's now fractured mind, something stirred, a hurricane trapped in a cocoon of chemically induced sleep. Some part of Shinji saw this, some small part of his dormant, sleeping mind saw the storm about to be __unleashed. Now, as on the carrier, he found himself helpless to resist the coming storm, a prisoner in his own mind. Silence spewed forth from his screaming mouth as he struggled, desperately trying to regain control of himself. His attempts were in vain._

_ Blurred images ran through Shinji's psyche like a film projector at high speed, images like those from a half-remembered dream. An aircraft carrier exploded, vanishing into the ocean's depths. Purple blood shot from the corpse of a creature as he soared through the air, his fist clutching a crystalline red orb. Doctors stood over him, poking, prodding him. The noise. There was so much noise._

_ The doctor. He remembered her. She had stared at him through glass and light, tubes protruding from his skin like obscene tumors. Prisoner. He was a prisoner._

_ The feral part of his mind awoke, that great beast unchaining itself from the delirium. _**Smash, **_it rumbled, a great and powerful sound, more like a landslide or an avalanche than the voice of any worldly bein__g, _**smash, smash, smash...**

( 0 0 0 )

Ritsuko did not have time to scream in surprise or make any kind of sound at all before Shinji's arm lashed out, wrapping around her throat like a vice. The scientist looked down into the boy's eyes, their normal deep cobalt color pulsating and shifting into a vibrant, scintillating green. His lips were spread wide, showing her every pearly white tooth like the smile of a rabid dog. Shinji's breath came in short, quick puffs, loud and terrifying. Ritsuko choked, trying to speak or even inhale the slightest bit of oxygen, but the Third Child's grip on her was unshakable and unyielding.

Rei froze, watching what was happening in front of her. Ritsuko had warned her about Shinji's volatility, and she had seen the footage from the battle with the Angel, but it still caught her off guard. Shinji was not himself. She recognized the change in his eye color from when he rescued her from the Entry Plug, and that gave her an idea. It was not a particularly logical one, Rei knew, but it was either this or watch Dr. Akagi suffocate. She took two steps forward, standing in Shinji's line of sight, locking eyes with him.

"Ikari-kun," Rei spoke lightly, forgoing the title of Pilot for the first time since their meeting, "we are trying to help you. Let her go."

Shinji's eyes flickered back and forth between the two women. His mouth worked, no sound issuing from it the first several times, until he finally managed to choke out a questioning "Aya...nami?"

"Yes. It is me," the girl said, looking into his eyes intently. "Ikari-kun, please, try to remain calm. We are here to help you."

"She... she..." Shinji's mouth moved wordlessly again, his eyes starting to lose their strange discoloration. "She... _hurt _me..."

"I know. But now we are escaping. I need you to let her go."

Tense seconds passed by, the only sound between the three of them were Ritsuko's strangled attempts to breathe. Finally, Shinji's arm went slack and he slumped forward. Rei raised her arms quickly and steadied him while Ritsuko stepped backward, doubling over and inhaling with a deep, pained groan. "Ayanami," Shinji rasped, his voice now sounding weak, very much unlike his previous rage-filled growling, "what's... what's going on?"

"I do not have time to explain everything to you, Ikari-kun. Right now, I am attempting to take you away from some people who may seek to harm you. You will have to follow my lead unless you wish to be captured."

Shinji's eyes widened in surprise, the sedatives beginning to wear off and the realization starting to sink into his addled brain. "We're... escaping? Leaving NERV? But you-"

Rei cut him off. "We do not have time to waste. Do you trust me, Ikari-kun?"

Shinji looked up into Rei's eyes, as if looking for some indiscernible quality that she would not be able to fathom. The boy remembered what she had done for him, leaping into the path of death itself to keep him alive-and now she was potentially doing so a second time. That day, they had saved each other. She owed him nothing, yet she still risked everything to keep him from those who would do him harm. That gave Shinji his answer, and he nodded. "I trust you."

Rei smiled at him, only the second time she had ever done so. "Good. Then we need to keep you hidden."

Author's Notes: Well, close to one year in between updates. I guess it's better than last time but it still kinda sucks.

Things are starting to heat up in this story, but unfortunately with my working schedule writing time's sparse these days. I'll just say that it'll come when it comes.

Prereading for this story was done by Scout, as usual.

Coming up next issue: Thunderbolt!


End file.
